Dental chair backrest with integral elbow supports

ABSTRACT

An upholstered backrest with integral, flexible elbow supports for dental chairs and the like in which the elbow supports are formed by dished wings of upholstery material extending from the sides of the backrest. The upholstery material forming the elbow supports are stitched along a flexure line which permits the supports to yield under pressure as may occur for example when the dentist presses close to the side of the dental chair.

United States Patent [191 Rabinowitz et al.

[ Dec. 9, 1975 DENTAL CHAIR BACKREST WITH INTEGRAL ELBOW SUPPORTS [75]Inventors: Azriel J. Rabinowitz, Rochester;

David B. Wilson, Holcomb, both of NY.

[73] Assignee: Sybron Corporation, Rochester,

[22] Filed: Oct. 7, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 512,486

[52] US. Cl. 297/460; 297/411 [51] Int. Cl. A47C 7/02 [58] Field ofSearch 297/219, 230, 231, 352, 297/394, 397, 411, 412, 414, 460, 250,254

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,858,937 l/1975 Norris297/284 X Primary ExaminerJames C. Mitchell Attorney, Agent, orFirmTheodore B. Roessel; Roger Aceto ABSTRACT 3 Claims, 3 DrawingFigures US. Patent Dec. 9, 1975 FIG. 1

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

DENTAL CHAIRBACKREST WITH INTEGRAL ELBOW SUPPORTS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to the dental chair upholsteryand more particuarly to backrest upholstery having integral elbowsupports.

In conventional dental chairs the armrests usually do not follow themovement of backrest and therefore do little to support the elbow andupper arms of a patient when the backrest is in a reclined position.Also conventional armrests tend to interfere with the free movement ofthe patient into and out of the dental chair.

In other chair designs, as shown for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,729,227a backrest and elbow support is made in one piece, wherein the elbowsupport is formed by extending and curving the sides of the backrest.However, making the back and elbow supports from a single body, has thedisadvantage that such a configuration is difficult to upholster andfurther that the side will not yield as the dentist moves close into thechair.

In the present invention, the elbow supports are integral with andhinged to the backrest upholstery material, which in turn is fastened tothe backrest casting or frame of the dental chair. In this way, theelbow supports not only provide support for the patients elbows andupper arms when the patient is in a reclined position, but also yieldunder pressure so that the dentist may work close to the chair. Furtheras the backrest frame rotates about a hinge point which simulates thehip joint of a patient, the entire backrest cushion and theintegral-elbow and arm supports rotate as a unit with the backrestframe. Consequently, there is no relative motion between the elbow andarm supports and the arms of the patient during the motion of thebackrest frame. The present invention also permits ease of manufactureand quick assembly of the upholstered structure to the backrest of thedental chair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention may be characterized inone aspect thereof by the provision of an upholstered struc-' ture forattachment to the backrest of a dental chair, the upholstered structurecomprising a back plate having upholstered wing-like extensionsconnected to the longitudinal edges of the plate by a web of material,the web forming a hinge which permits the extension to pivot withrespect to the back plate; each of the extensions define a pocketcontaining a dished plate completely surrounded by upholstery cushionmaterial, the dished plate providing the form for nesting the patientselbows; and an upholstered cushion attached to the back plate, theupholstered cushion and back plate being attached to the back rest of adental chair by bolts which pass through the backrest and plate andwhich are threaded to the cushion so that turning the bolts draws thecushion, back plate and backrest together.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is toprovide a upholstered structure for the backrest of a dental chair, thestructure having integral elbow supports.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an upholsteredstructure which can be quickly and eas- 2 ily fixed'to the backrest ofthe dental chair, the structure having integral upholsterd elbowsupports.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an upholsteredbackrest for dental chairs and the like having integral elbow supportswhich retain their form DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sideelevation view of the backrest of the dental chair with theupholsteredstructure in place;

FIG. 2 is'a top view of the backrest shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the backrest takenalong the lines 3--3 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings,FIG. 1 shows the backrest frame 10, of the dental chair, the seat ofwhich is indicated at 12. The backrest frame includes a dished armportion 'l4-which is pivoted to the seatrest at 16. The dished shape ofarm 14 is best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The upper portion of the backrestis provided with a slot (not shown) for slidably receiving a headrest, aportion of which is shown at 18. Thus, shown in FIG. 1 is that portionof the backrest frame which supports the upper body portion includingthe patients upper arm and elbows.

The upholstered structure for backrest frame 10 is shown generallyindicated at 20. The structure includes a padded back 22 having a lumbarsupport cushion 24 and a pair of upward extending wings 26 at each sidewhich rest against arm portions 14. As best seen in FIG. 1, the majorportion. of wings .26 between the dished arm portion and the top of thebackrest is unobstructed. This permits the dentist to stand in close tothe side of the dental chair and in fact bump or engage against wings26. While the primary function of wings 26 is to provide support for theelbows and upper arms of the patient when in the reclined position, thewings should be able to yield should the dentist or his assistant pressagainst them as he stands in close to the dental chair.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upholstered structure 20 actually consists oftwo portions, the padded back 22 and a plate member 28 to which wings 26are attached. The two portions are drawn together and fixed to backrestframe 10 by a bolt or other suitable connector 30 as further set outhereinbelow.

Back 22 includes a rigid pan 32 having a tee nut 34 for receivingconnector 30. Pan 32 is then simply covered with an upholstery cushionmaterial 36, such as foam rubber and any suitable upholstery fabricmaterial 38.

The second portion of upholstered structure 20, that is plate member 28,is unupholstered accept for a sheet of upholstery material 40 whichextends across its front surface. Sheet 40 extends outwardly from theedge 41 of the plate to form the front surface of each wing 36 only oneof which is shown in FIG. 3. A second sheet 42 of upholstery materialdefines the rear surface of wing 36. Sheet 42 preferably does not extendover the entire back of plate 28 but is merely fixed to the plateadjacent edge 41 so that two sheets 42 are provided, one for each wing.

As shown in FIG. 3, sheets 40 and 42 are brought into contact andswitched together at 44 by two sew lines which extend generally parallelto plate edge 41. This defines a web of material at 44 which connectwings 26 to plate 28 and allows the wings to flex relative to the plate,the web defining a hinge for this purpose. FIGS. 1 and 3 show that theportion of sheets 40, 42, which define the front and rear surfaces ofwings 26 have there outer going edges connected along a sew lines whichextend about the periphery of the wing, the periphery including ofcourse, the double sew line which defines web 44. While the sheets canbe directly sewn together, it is preferred that an intermediate sidepanel 46 to be used between sheets 40 and 42 in order to increase thethickness of the wing at the outer edge. In any event, FIG. 3 shows thatwing 26 encloses a pocket 48. Floating within the pocket and notconnected directly to either of the sheets, are a pair of stiffeningmembers 50 and 52. Members 50 and 52 are relatively stiff so as torigidify wing 26. In addition, member 52 is slightly dish-shaped inorder to more comfortably accommodate the elbow of the patient whichrests against the wing. Disposed about and between each member 50 and 52are three layers of any suitable upholstery cushion material 54.

As thus described, the upholstered portions are quickly and easilyfitted to backrest frame simply by tightening bolt 30 which draws thetwo portions and the backrest frame together. Further the constructionof wings 26, not only permits support for the patients elbow and upperarm, but also permits a flexure or bending of the wing about web 44should the dentist press in at the'side of the dental chair. Thus,'itshould be appreciated that the present invention accomplishes itsintended objects in providing an upholstered back for dental chairswhich is quickly and easily manufactured and assembled and which hasintegral elbow supports that yield or flex with respect to the backrestframe when pushed against by the dentist.

Having thus described the invention in detail, what is claimed as newis:

1. An upholstered back with integral elbow supports for the backrestframe of dental chairs and the like comprising:

a. an elongated plate adapted for connection to the backrest frame;

b. first and second sheets of upholstery material fixed respectively tothe front and rear surfaces of said elongated plate, portions of saidsheets extending outwardly from opposite longitudinal edges of saidplate to form wing portions, said first sheet being disposed over thefront surface of said plate and defining the front surfac'e of each wingportion, said second sheet comprising a pair of separate sheets definingthe rear surface of each wing portion, said second sheets beingconnected along one edge to said plate;

0. said outward extending wing portions being stitched together along aperipherial line' to form a sealed pocket, said peripherial lineincluding a segment running generally along a major length of each ofsaid longitudinal edges wherein said first and second sheets are placedone against the other and stitched to form hinges about which said wingportions can deflect;

. stiffening means in each of said pockets to rigidity the same andpermit said wings to support the elbows of a patient in said dentalchair, each means including a pair of stiffening members, one disposedover the other, the top one of said members being formed with a curvedportion to cup the elbow of a patient in said dental chair; and

e. upholstery cushion material in each of said wingv pockets and aboutsaid means to cushion said wings, a portion of said upholstery cushionmaterial being interposed between said members.

2. An upholstered back with integral elbow supports as in claim 1including an upholstered backrest cushion removably fixed to the frontsurface of said plate over said first sheet of upholstery material.

3. An upholstered back with integral elbow supports as in claim 2,wherein said upholstered backrest cushion includes a rigid pan, saidelongated plate and upholstered cushion being connected to the backrestframe by bolts passing through said backrest frame and plate andthreaded to said pan, whereby turning said bolts draws said pan, plateand backrest frame together.

1. An upholstered back with integral elbow supports for the backrestframe of dental chairs and the like comprising: a. an elongated plateadapted for connection to the backrest frame; b. first and second sheetsof upholstery material fixed respectively to the front and rear surfacesof said elongated plate, portions of said sheets extending outwardlyfrom opposite longitudinal edges of said plate to form wing portions,said first sheet being disposed over the front surface of said plate anddefining the front surface of each wing portion, said second sheetcomprising a pair of separate sheets defining the rear surface of eachwing portion, said second sheets being connected along one edge to saidplate; c. said outward extending wing portions being stitched togetheralong a peripherial line to form a sealed pocket, said peripherial lineincluding a segment running generally along a major length of each ofsaid longitudinal edges wherein said first and second sheets are placedone against the other and stitched to form hinges about which said wingportions can deflect; d. stiffening means in each of said pockets torigidity the same and permit said wings to support the elbows of apatient in said dental chair, each means including a pair of stiffeningmembers, one disposed over the other, the top one of said members beingformed with a curved portion to cup the elbow of a patient in saiddental chair; and e. upholstery cushion material in each of said wingpockets and about said means to cushion said wings, a portion of saidupholstery cushion material being interposed between said members.
 2. Anupholstered back with integral elbow supports as in claim 1 including anupholstered backrest cushion removably fixed to the front surface ofsaid plate over said first sheet of upholstery material.
 3. Anupholstered back with integral elbow supports as in claim 2, whereinsaid upholstered backrest cushion includes a rigid pan, said elongatedplate and upholstered cushion being connected to the backrest frame bybolts passing through said backrest frame and plate and threaded to saidpan, whereby turning said bolts draws said pan, plate and backrest frametogether.